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ODDSbible MMA: Bellator NYC Review And Reaction

ODDSbible MMA: Bellator NYC Review And Reaction

The Irish Tricolour is raised again at Madison Square Garden

Anonymous

Anonymous

In November 2016, Conor McGregor raised the Irish tricolour at the most famous combat arena - Madison Square Garden, as he sealed his second UFC championship inside two rounds over Eddie Alvarez.

On Saturday evening, another man from the SBG gym in Dublin made the journey to New York to raise the tricolour again. This time the Bellator banner played host to Strabane's James Gallagher, looking to extend his perfect mixed martial arts record to seven wins with no defeats.

Standing in his way was Chinzo Machida, the toughest test of Gallagher's career so far and the brother of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Lyoto Machida. 'The Strabanimal' is twenty whilst his opponent is double his senior at forty-years-old.

But when the bell rang, the pair traded strikes on the feet before Gallagher managed to take the Brazilian to the ground. Within seconds, Gallagher had moved from full guard, to side control and into full mount almost seamlessly and whilst landing strikes from the top position.

Machida then attempted to escape the mount by turning and giving up his back, a grave mistake against the jiu-jitsu specialist who had finished four of his previous six fights by way of rear-naked choke. Gallagher then locked in a body triangle and began to establish the choke around the neck of the Brazilian using his strikes to open up a nasty cut over his opponents left eye.

When the twenty-year-old managed to get his arm underneath the neck of Machida, he tightened the grip and within a few seconds, the Brazilian was forced to tap and the fight was over. Another rear-naked choke victory, and the Irishman reaffirmed his position as one of the biggest prospects in mixed martial arts.


The tricolour was raised, and the Irish had conquered New York yet again. He joins Conor McGregor and Michael Conlan as victors in recent times at Madison Square Garden.

Oh, and we tipped him to win by submission at 15/8... and told you to watch for the rear-naked choke!

Elsewhere, ChaelSonnen and Wanderlei Silva finally got to settle their long feud dating back years with the American outpointing the Brazilian to a comfortable points decision. With neither fighter holding a win since 2013, a cagey affair was expected.

Sonnen is always an entertainer, in the cage and on the microphone as was evident with his post-fight in-cage interview.



One of the greatest mixed martial artists, Fedor Emelianenko faced ex-UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione in the co-main event and at forty years old, we might never see 'The Last Emperor' in action again.

When heavyweights start throwing punches, anything can happen and it was a sight to behold with a brutalbeautiful double knockdown as both fighters landed at the same time. Youth was on the side of the American as Mitrione was first to recover and get back to his feet whilst Fedor was grounded. Mitrione managed to land some perfectly accurate ground and pound to force Dan Miragliotta to step in and call an end to proceedings.


Bellator lightweight champion Michael Chandler, lost his belt in bizarre circumstances against huge underdog Brent Primus.

Chandler seemingly broken his ankle midway through the first round and the unbeaten challenger punished him with a brutal leg kick.


Todd Anderson called a break in the action for the doctor to look at Chandler's ankle, and after a classic pull of the chair similar to what you'd do to a friend in school, the referee was forced to declare Primus as the new lightweight champion.


The biggest favourite on the fight card, Aaron Pico who making his MMA debut was considered to be the future of the sport and had all the hype despite never appearing at amateur level was submitted by Zach Freeman after just twenty-four seconds.

Freeman landed a huge right uppercut which wobbled the youngster before catching the prospect in a guillotine choke on his way to the ground. He tightened the choke before Pico was forced to tap. A huge upset with Pico priced as short as 1/10 when the fight got underway.


Douglas Lima retained his welterweight title after outpointing promotional newcomer Lorenz Larkin over five rounds.

Lima was considered to be an underdog in the fight with Larkin making the switch to Bellator following his UFC contract expiring. However the champion managed to outstrike Larkin and managed to cruise towards a unanimous decision victory.

Ryan Bader also managed to defeat Phil Davis for the second time to seal the light-heavyweight in a fight that I wouldn't advise to watch back. The highlight was probably Ryan 'Darth' Bader's spectacular walk out.


Bader, who we tipped to win at 9/4, managed to get a second split decision victory over Davis, in a repeat of their first battle at UFC Stockholm in 2015. But this time, gold was on the line and Bader was the man leaving Madison Square Garden with the light-heavyweight strap around his waist.

Bellator managed to draw a crowd of just over 12,000 paling in comparison to the UFC 205's in excess of 20,000 crowd. It was still a success for the promotion looking to close the gap to the mixed martial arts leader.

Full Results

Light Heavyweight: ChaelSonnen def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27).

Heavyweight:Matt Mitrione def. FedorEmelianenko via TKO (strikes) after 1:14 of Round 1.

Bellator Lightweight Championship:Brent Primus def. Michael Chandler via TKO (doctor's stoppage) after 2:22 of Round 1.

Lightweight: Zach Freeman def. Aaron Pico via submission (guillotine) after 0:24 of Round 1.

Bellator Welterweight Championship: Douglas Lima def. Lorenz Larkin via unanimous decision (50-45, 48-47, 48-47).

Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship: Ryan Bader def. Phil Davis via split decision (49-46, 47-49, 49-46).

Featherweight: James Gallagher def. Chinzo Machida via submission (rear-naked choke) after 2:22 of Round 1.

Welterweight: Neiman Gracie def. Dave Marfone via submission (rear-naked choke) after 2:27 of Round 2.

Women's Flyweight:Heather Hardy def. Alice Yauger via TKO (strikes) after 4:47 of Round 3.

Welterweight: Ryan Couture def. Haim Gozali via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Lightweight: Anthony Giacchina def. Jerome Mickle via submission (rear-naked choke) after 3:40 of Round 3.

Catchweight (168lbs): Hugh McKenna def. John Salgado via submission (kimura) after 4:06 of Round 1.

Bantamweight: Matt Rizzo def. Sergio da Silva via submission (arm-triangle choke) after 3:48 of Round 3.

Lightweight: Bradley Desir def. Nate Grebb via KO (punches) after 2:54 of Round 1.

Words by Darren Russell (DRussellMMA)

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